Draymond Green Still Hasn’t Learned His Lesson, and It Could Cost Golden State Its Season

The Warriors’ year just went from bad to worse, with Green likely to receive a suspension after being ejected from Tuesday’s game for striking Jusuf Nurkić.

Each time the discipline comes down you think maybe, maybe, this time Draymond Green will learn. When the Warriors sent him home for cold-cocking Jordan Poole, when the league suspended him for chest-stomping Domantas Sabonis, when the NBA sat him down for five games after Green wrapped Rudy Gobert in a choke hold just last month. Whether it’s the fines, the missed games or the sheer embarrassment, eventually Green would grow up.

He didn’t, he hasn’t and Tuesday night offered the latest evidence that perhaps he won’t. Midway through the third quarter of Golden State’s game against Phoenix—its nationally televised game against Phoenix—Green got tangled up with Jusuf Nurkić. As he pulled himself loose, Green swung his arm, connecting with Nurkić’s head, a forearm-to-temple shot that dropped 6'11", 290-pound Nurkić to the floor.

Flagrant 2.

Ejection.

And a suspension is almost certainly to follow.

Incredible. After the game, Green attempted to do damage control. He apologized to Nurkić. He said the entire incident was an attempt to sell a foul. “I spun away and unfortunately I hit him,” Green said. He accepted the ejection but repeatedly swore there was no intent.

“I don’t think I’m an accurate enough puncher to do a full 360 to hit someone,” Green said.

Across the hall, Nurkić wasn’t buying it.

“What’s going on with him, I don’t know,” Nurkić said. “Personally, I feel like that brother needs help. I’m glad he didn’t try to choke me.”

It won’t matter. Somewhere Joe Dumars’s head is bouncing off a table. Dumars likes Green. They are both Michiganders. Growing up, Green hung around Dumars’s house. As a player, Dumars, like Green, embraced a physical, hard-nosed style. He didn’t want to suspend Green for a playoff game last April. He didn’t want to do it again last month. But Dumars, the NBA’s dean of discipline, has been clear that Green’s history will be factored into any league punishment. Green didn’t leave Dumars a choice then. He doesn’t have any now.

Green is averaging 9.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists for Golden State this season :: Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

The numbers, in case you forgot, are staggering. More than 170 technical fouls, including postseason. More than 20 flagrants. Five suspensions, and counting. Green’s ejection Tuesday was the third time he has been tossed this season … one that’s not even two months old.

Addressing reporters, Steve Kerr declined to comment. “I haven’t seen a replay,” Kerr said. Deep down, he must have fumed. For years Kerr has stood by Green, navigating him through some difficult situations. He stuck with him after the Poole incident and got him through the Gobert mess. Even if you believe Green’s explanation—and the NBA won’t—the carelessness of swinging the arms in the direction of an opponent’s head is inexcusable.

“We need him,” Kerr said. “We need Draymond. But he knows that. And we’ve talked to him, and he’s got to find a way to keep his poise and be out there for his teammates.”

This has been, by any measurement, a dismal start to Golden State’s season. Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix dropped the Warriors to 10–13, 2½ games back of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Klay Thompson’s shooting numbers have plummeted, Andrew Wiggins’s have cratered and for the forever year in a row, Golden State’s non–Stephen Curry talent is problematic. The Warriors’ efficiency numbers are pedestrian—15th in offense, 17th in defense—and their turnover percentage ranks in the bottom five. In the closing minutes against the Suns, Thompson and Wiggins watched from the bench.

It was hard enough with Green. Now the Warriors are facing another stretch of games without him. Golden State is 2–6 in games where Green was either ejected or suspended for this season. It was a one-point game when Green was tossed Tuesday. The Warriors ended up losing by three. “Draymond’s still a hell of a player,” said Kerr. “Still a really good player. So we need him. If we’re going to be a really good team, we need him.”

They won’t have him, not for a few games, at least. It’s hard to imagine Dumars going fewer than five games on this. Green’s history could push it to 10. As apologetic as Green was, he hit Nurkić with a haymaker—that won’t be overlooked. With Golden State staring at the Clippers, Nets and Celtics on the schedule in the next week, a bad season could get a lot worse.

“I still see a chance for this team to be really good,” Kerr said. “But we obviously have to find something. Right now, we’re not good enough. We know that we’re not connected enough to win in this league, especially in a Western Conference that’s really deep and has great teams. Everything’s got to be lined up right. And we’ve got to be connected and playing well. Right now we’re not.”